This is a first in history.
So far, never has a Ligue 1 match been postponed for snowfall in April.
This is now the case since the announcement of the Professional Football League (LFP) to reschedule the meeting between AS Saint-Etienne and Olympique de Marseille, initially scheduled for Saturday April 2 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, at a later date.
⚠️ Given the difficulties of access to the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, the LFP has decided in agreement with all the stakeholders in the organization of the meeting, to postpone #ASSEOM, scheduled for this Saturday, until tomorrow Sunday April 3.
The final schedule will be communicated soon.
pic.twitter.com/ydJEkcmZts
– AS Saint-Etienne (@ASSEofficiel) April 2, 2022
If postponements due to excessive snowfall are frequent in France during the winter period, it is much rarer to experience them after the month of February.
On March 4, 2006, a meeting between Sochaux and Bordeaux had however been rescheduled due to snow.
It was then the 29th day of Ligue 1, against the 30th this season.
The weather has therefore decided to once again break free from the norm in 2022, a rare but not improbable occurrence.
“In April, snow can make its appearance, recalls Météo-France.
Spring is the season of all contrasts and an amplitude of 25°C on the scale of a day should not be surprising.
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Météo-France adds that this is not an isolated episode in history.
2005, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2021 had already seen snowfalls during the month of April, without however causing any postponement on the lawns of professional football.
❄️#April❄️
#snow can still appear!
Some examples since 2005.
⬇️⬇️
❄️🗓️ Mid-April 2005:
Snow on the Massif Central (10 to 20 cm at more than 600 m) and Vercors in particular.
📽️8 p.m. from @France2tv, April 16, 2005, via @Inafr_officiel pic.twitter.com/xrPty7KnJx
— Meteo-France (@meteofrance) March 30, 2022
If it is not snow, on the other hand, the French championship has sometimes experienced, in the past, postponements of matches due to too heavy rains so late in the year.
This was the case on April 14, 2018 when the confrontation between Caen and Toulouse could not be held, after a big storm had waterlogged the pitch and made the lawn impassable.